Boston Red Sox first baseman Mitch Moreland set a franchise record by recording at least one double in seven consecutive games.
When Mitch Moreland went without a hit over nine plate appearances in the first two games of the season we started to hear groans about how the new first baseman for the Boston Red Sox was going to be a weakness in the middle of the lineup. About a week later the outlook has completely changed.
Moreland has been one of the hottest hitters in the league over the past week, going 11-for-25 to raise his season average to .324 through nine games. During that span he’s been an extra-base hitting machine, cranking out a major league-leading eight doubles.
History was made in the bottom of the second inning this afternoon, when Moreland picked up that eighth double of the season. That hit gave him at least one double in seven consecutive games, setting a franchise record. The previous record of six straight games with a double was shared by David Ortiz, Jason Varitek and Bill Regan.
Mitch Moreland set a #RedSox franchise record this afternoon by hitting a double in his 7th consecutive game. pic.twitter.com/S8E6D7lMuL
— BoSox Injection (@BoSoxInjection) April 13, 2017
Two batters later, Moreland would score on a double by Marco Hernandez for Boston’s first run of the game. The Red Sox still trailed by a run at the time, but that early run still proved vital in a game they would go on to win 4-3.
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Moreland also has a pair of doubles against left-handed pitchers this season, going 2-for-5 so far against southpaws. There was some concern that he may need to be platooned at first base in order to avoid having him face lefties, but there’s been no need for that so far. Nobody will be happier about that then Hanley Ramirez, who can continue to DH regardless of how his shoulder feels.
Mitchy Two-Bags is on a roll, helping to lift a Red Sox lineup that has been sluggish out of the gate in the wake of a series of flu viruses that stormed through the clubhouse. Moreland himself was a victim of the bug as spring training came to a close, which may have had something to do with his empty plate appearances in the first two games of the regular season. Clearly he’s over the flu and is now using his bat to make opposing pitchers feel ill.
He hasn’t homered yet this season, after blasting at least 22 home runs in three of the last four seasons. We can’t complain about that as long as he keeps racking up doubles and his .548 slugging percentage is nothing to scoff at even without the benefit of a home run.
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The batting average of the career .254 hitter will certainly decline over a larger sample, but the early returns show he’s in line for a solid bounce back season after struggling last year with the Texas Rangers. If he approaches his 2015 season, when he hit .278 with 23 homers and a career-high 27 doubles, Moreland will prove to be a tremendous bargain for the Red Sox.